Caste System in Modern India: Contribution of British Imperialism
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.68219/0f13sq31Keywords:
Caste System, British Colonialism, Colonial Governance, Social Stratification, Institutionalization of CasteAbstract
The caste system continues to be one of the most persistent and contested aspects of Indian society in the contemporary period. Even though there have been significant historical precedents of caste hierarchy in the subcontinent, modern research tends to focus on whether colonial intervention led to substantial change in the form of, significance of, and politics of caste identity formation in modern India. In most of these studies, the caste system either appears as a completely untouched precolonial practice or a colonial invention with less focus on how imperial governance led to a transformation of preexisting hierarchies within society. The present study aims at examining the contribution of British imperialism in transforming the caste system in modern India. Based on historical analysis and postcolonial theory, this study uses qualitative methodology based on primary sources such as archival documents, census reports, government records, legal enactments, and secondary academic literature in different disciplines. Specific focus will be given on issues like population enumeration, ethnographic classification, land settlement, educational administration, and bureaucratic methods. The conclusion drawn from this research is that caste was neither invented nor produced by the system of British colonial governance as a social institution. It can be argued that the process of colonial governance resulted in the institutionalization and transformation of caste through the conversion of locally constituted and geographically specific identities into administratively constructed categories. The process of institutionalization of caste affected mobility and representation in terms of governance and public policy. This research will contribute to the academic discussion on the production of colonial knowledge and institutionalism in history.
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